βοηηιε βεηηεττ (impsychicnow) wrote in valloic, @ 2022-09-09 17:14:00 |
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Bonnie & Enzo head to the night market, and there's a misunderstanding on their relationship.
The market was filled with all kinds of people. Witches, vampires, fae, elves, from all walks of life there for reasons that were their own. Or, public and broadcasted for everyone. It seemed to go one way or another.
She knew Enzo stepped off the train behind her. As much as she was capable of holding her own, she did feel a little more at ease this time around. Both because she had been here before, and because she wasn’t alone.
“So apparently there’s supposed to be an older witch somewhere here who has some sort of information on the grail. A book, scroll, something. The only description I have is that he apparently has two different colored eyes and a scar on the left side of his face from a spell gone wrong. It could also just be complete bullshit too.”
Enzo chuckled lightly as he stepped through the Night Market’s entryway on Bonnie’s heels. It was summer, but he still wore his leather jacket, hands in pockets. He took a glance at Bonnie before he scanned the crowd stretching out in front of them. They certainly were a unique lot. “Under normal circumstances, I’d say bullshit, but this place…” he paused for a long moment as an orc wandered in front of them, “I’d believe it.”
He pulled his hands out of his pockets and reached to lace his fingers through hers. “Shall we?”
It was so easy to take his hand and fall back into step beside him the way they had done for years. Too easy? Bonnie wasn’t sure, and wasn’t going to think too much about it. He was here, and she was always going to take his hand. Not just because they were in the sketchy Night Market where you couldn’t really trust anyone.
As far as Bonnie knew, there wasn’t really any kind of map or logic to how the market was laid out, and from what she understood, it could go on for quite a while. Unsure of which way to go, she followed her tug in her mind, relying on her abilities instead to guide her to where she wanted to be.
They moved slowly through the crowds of people, scanning the faces of the people selling, looking for the matching physical traits.
Only a few moments had passed when Bonnie finally heard a man on what had to be some sort of speaker, announcing what sounded like the details of a fight. Up ahead, there was a crowd of people cheering. It took a second to register, but her nose crinkled in annoyance. “That must be the familiar fights that were mentioned.”
It was his first time in the Night Market and even though Bonnie had done her best to prepare him for it, it was still a shock to the system. He let Bonnie direct them, but as they walked, he let his eyes wander. To the left what looked like garden gnome statues animated themselves and took off into the darkness. Over on the right, a group of hobgoblins were haggling over t-shirts. The entire place was absolute chaos.
“Familiar fights?” Enzo turned in the direction of the crowd. “What, like magical cock fighting?” He raised a curious eyebrow.
“Human cocking fighting.” She responded, lips pressing together in a disapproving line. She pulled them a little closer to try and hear the announcer better, but she didn’t want to get so close that she could see the fights. “Some vampires have human familiars here and in other worlds. They make them fight.”
The whole concept was absurd to her. Did the vampires have some sort of mental sway over their familiars? They had to force them to do this somehow, right? The whole thing didn’t make an ounce of sense to her. “The vampires squaring off would be more interesting.”
The Enzo of several years ago honestly wouldn’t have batted an eye at vampires watching humans fight for entertainment. Of course falling in love with a human had changed his perspective significantly. He stayed close to her as Bonnie moved them nearer to the fight.
He couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at her commentary. “Should I worry about you signing me up for a vampire fighting ring?”
Arching one eyebrow, Bonnie looked back over her shoulder at him as she skirted around the crowd, avoiding getting too close while also trying to keep an eye out for the shopkeeper she was looking for. “I’d destroy the foundations of this place before I let that happen.” she said lightly, though she was also very deadly serious. She had just got him back, she wasn’t letting anything come between that.
“Not that I have any doubt you couldn’t take the other vampires.” Some of them seemed…kind of ridiculous, at times. Which she didn’t mind, but it didn’t exactly strike fear. There was a distinct lack of ripping hearts of decapitations.
He knew that look. Enzo gave her a smile and raised their linked hands to his lips. He pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Careful, love, I may just swoon right here.”
As they moved through the crowd, he kept his attention razor focused on Bonnie. There were a lot of things happening all at once, and if she was focused on finding the witch, he’d make certain nothing else caught them unaware. Though this place was certainly testing his limits. The smell was the worst. Vampire senses could be helpful in a great many situations, but a strong sense of smell when you’re in a market stuffed with all manner of supernatural creatures who have questionable hygiene practices was not one of them.
He shouldered a creature of indeterminate origin out of his way. “Charming clientele.”
“Please don’t. I don’t think I can catch you, and I doubt you want to land on the ground.” Because god only knew what they were walking over. She had not paid close attention to the ground, and wasn’t about to now.
They were about to move away from the fighting crowd when a familiar went flying through the gathering and landed on the ground in front of them, unconscious but breathing. Bonnie’s inner thoughts must have been plastered on her face, and she didn’t even realize she was saying something along the lines of ‘barbaric,’ ‘degrading,’ and ‘they should all be slapped.’ Plenty of vampires probably heard her though, because suddenly one was pointing directly at Enzo.
“You there! Are you really going to let your familiar talk about these honored fights like that?”
Everything happened very quickly. The injured familiar came flying in their direction and Enzo reached out to pull Bonnie back a few steps. The crowd turned in their direction as she started muttering condemnations. He realized what would happen a split second before it did. Enzo cringed as a vampire shouted at him, but quickly stepped in front of Bonnie.
“Nah, mate. She was just talking about haggling with the troll selling novelty t-shirts.” He gave Bonnie’s hand an urgent squeeze as if to say I know you can drop every vampire here, but don’t.
It took her a moment to react. Her brain glitched, if you will, trying to comprehend a vampire referring to her as a familiar. A witch as a vampire familiar. Bonnie opened her mouth to inform the vampire exactly what she thought of his assumption, potentially to be accompanied by flaming hands that could become fireballs if necessary, but then Enzo was in front of her before she could do anything she was thinking.
Her annoyance flashed again, and she wondered if he could feel her eyes glaring holes through his head and to the other vampire he was speaking to. She had to bite down on her own tongue to keep herself from correcting Enzo and letting the vampire know exactly what she was talking about. But part of her Enzo was probably right. Starting a fight in the middle of the market was a stupid idea, even if part of her said it would be worth it.
She couldn’t see the other vampire over Enzo’s shoulder, but she kept herself behind him, mostly so the sight of the other vampire didn’t make her even more angry.
“Ol’ Seji, you mean? Drives a hard bargain, that one.” Of course there was a troll that had graphic t-shirts. “Well, how about it then. Do you think you’re familiar is up for the challenge? No one has taken down the reigning champion in weeks.”
Yep. Nope. Bonnie stepped to the side to see past Enzo, just imagining the satisfaction that would come from screwing with this guys brain activity.
For half a second Enzo had hoped that would be the end of it. That they’d head on their way, find that damned witch, and get back home. But when did things ever go how he hoped?
He stepped closer to the other vampire, put a hand on his shoulder, and leaned in almost conspiratorially. “Listen, you seem…well, frankly you seem like you stumbled out of some middle-schooler’s dracula fanfiction, but we’ll just move past that. That woman is not a familiar, she’s the love of my life, and I can guarantee you she can make you and any other vampire in this place beg for mercy. You can test her if you like, I honestly wouldn’t mind the show, but it would be more in your best interest to politely apologize and be on your way.” He’d leaned in close and while his tone was still friendly, the expression on his face was deadly serious. “What do you say, eh?”
The spell she was summoning up in her mind to show the vampire just exactly how wrong he was faded from her mind when Enzo managed to keep himself between the two of them again. She was close enough to hear what he was saying, and Bonnie’s gaze softened as she watched his back, his face not visible from this angle. His words made her heart swell, first with the love she had thought she had lost, and then with pride and a reminder that had so firmly been in her corner where others from her world often let her down, no matter how much she loved him.
Bonnie became lost in her own memories to the point that she only caught part of what the other vampire said, but she briefly heard a hiss, and then a warning about how she would steal his semen and she shouldn’t be trusted. Having already had this conversation, she did not need to hear it again. Bonnie had to stop her eyes from rolling back into her head as the other vampire finally turned away. So many of the things she heard about other witches from different worlds were beyond insane.
“I think you just broke his brain.” she said, stepping around Enzo after he had left. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk to him about ways to protect yourself against semen stealing witches?”
Enzo couldn’t help but chuckle in response and took Bonnie’s hand in his once more. “I think I’ll take my chances.” He turned his gaze from her back over to where the familiar fights seemed to be breaking up for the evening. He wasn’t sure if their new friend had a hand in it, or if it had ended naturally, but either way he wasn’t sorry. “Bit of a shame, though. Next time we’re not here on some magical treasure hunt, I say you flatten the lot of them.”
Bonnie huffed back a laugh, shaking her head. Starting fights with vampires was never really her move, it was only recently she was learning to truly end them. Stepping up beside him, she moved his arm over her shoulders and laced her fingers into his, her other arm wrapping around his waist. “That really would cause a shit storm.” she replied, before letting herself grumble one more time about being called a familiar. Honestly.
“Come on, let's go find this guy before I snap and set someone on fire.”